The Calm Before the Storm
by Janne Richardson
Summary: Set after GoF. Continues on through fifth year. Harry finds out new and intriguing information about his ancestry, tries to keep Sirius in check, and maybe will have time for some romance this term. This is my first fic.... R&R please!
1. Of Whomping Willows and Wizard Wheezes

~*Chapter One*~ "Of Whomping Willows and Wizard Wheezes"  
  
Harry began the seemingly long walk from platform 9 3/4, through King's Cross train station, to his relatives' car. Waiting there for him was a true nightmare for anyone abnormal. His uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley were always found glaring at their "freak" relative. Usually, upon arrival at Privet Drive, Harry's wand was removed, along with his spell books, robes and other items contained within his trunk. Even the threat of Sirius' wrath concerning Harry's well-being wasn't enough to improve Harry's situation. He was never given enough food to support a growing boy his age, and he had more housework to do than even a house elf would put up with. But this year, Harry managed to find where his things were hidden.   
  
One day, while Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were taking Dudley to his friend Piers Polkiss' house, Harry swiped a straight pin from Aunt Petunia's sewing basket and ran to the cupboard under the stairs. He picked the lock as quickly as he could and grabbed all his belongings. He pocketed his wand (for safe-keeping) and brought everything else upstairs to his bedroom. Everything was placed under the loose floorboard for easier access.  
  
Harry met the treatment with little to no fuss and just went about doing whatever they asked of him, anything he could so that they would leave him alone. Besides, his mind was too busy elsewhere. During his waking hours, all Harry could think about was the events of the previous school term. And at night, his sleep was tormented with numerous nightmares of the Triwizard Tournament.   
  
As the summer weeks went on, however, things started to look up for Harry. Sirius kept in close contact, sending him daily owls while running errands for Dumbledore and dodging the Ministry Aurors. Hermione was secretly visiting Viktor Krum in Bulgaria, without Ron knowing. The latter didn't seem to notice, as he swamped Harry with almost daily owls, telling of his progress in convincing Dumbledore to let Harry come to the Burrow for the remainder of the summer.  
  
Until Uncle Vernon announced one day that Aunt Marge was coming for a visit. Whatever hopes for a quiet and almost enjoyable summer holiday were smashed.   
  
"Now you listen, boy. Marge is still highly upset about the incident two years ago. I think it's best that you stay away for the entirety of her visit. You will stay in your room, without making a sound."  
  
Harry nodded and left, somewhat relieved.   
  
A few days later, Aunt Marge arrived. Harry was able to stay in his room for the majority of the time. He didn't even have to do all the chores as he normally did. This helped him a lot with finishing his summer work, including the nasty potions essay he had to write.   
  
The first couple of days of Aunt Marge's visit gave him enough time to finish his Transfiguration work. Harry actually enjoyed this assignment because it dealt with Animagi. 'Too bad Sirius isn't here to help me with it.'  
  
The only time Harry had to deal with Aunt Marge was meal time. Usually, Harry came to the table last and was the first to leave, thus limiting his time present as much as possible. Everything went surprisingly well up until the last night of Marge's stay. She had had at least one too many brandies and was discussing Dudley's school Smeltings when Harry accidentally dropped a plate. The noise of the china shattering shook Marge out of her small talk and into a full-blown verbal assault on Harry.  
  
"Boy! Do you happen to know how much money you just wasted? That was Petunia's fine china and you just drop it  
  
"Sorry Aunt Petunia. It was an accident. I-I didn't mean to."  
  
Aunt Petunia was in the process of nodding and telling him to clean it up when Marge interrupted,"Excuses, Excuses! Don't they teach you anything at that school? You should have learned that from your parents. But we know why you didn't, don't we boy?"  
  
By now Harry was shaking with rage. He sat there glaring at Marge for a moment before he growled,"Insult me all you'd like, but never, ever disgrace my parents' memory."  
  
With that, Harry ran off to his room writing a letter to Ron about the events of the evening, and actually questioning about staying at the Burrow.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
One hot summer day, Harry was outside, in the bright sunlight, weeding the garden. A peculiar-looking man with flowing black robes and long, dark hair came strolling up Privet Drive, stopping at the picket fence surrounding number four. Harry's back was turned as the stranger stealthily walked up behind him. Harry heard a twig snap and spun around, wand drawn, curses and hexes ready to fire.  
  
"Whoa! Gosh pup, can't a guy visit his favorite godson without his head taken off?"  
  
Harry visibly relaxed at the sound of the not-so-strange stranger. He dropped the trowel and ran toward Sirius. Sirius gathered him up in his arms, into a giant bear hug.  
  
"You really scared me there, Padfoot. I thought you were Voldemort or one of his Deatheaters."  
  
"Well, I thought I'd surprise you on your 'birthday.'"  
  
Once he realized the imminent danger of the action that was transpiring, Harry began to talk very fast and a tone of urgency could be detected as he said,"But Sirius, if the ministry sees you..."  
  
"Trust me, kid. I can handle anything the ministry's got. I've already eluded them for two years now. Plus the fact that I was a marauder in my younger years, as clever and tricky as they come."Sirius interrupted, ending with a sly wink that make Harry laugh.   
  
'No wonder Sirius was able to pick up so many girls.' Harry thought to himself.   
  
He glanced back up to the house and caught a glimpse of Aunt Petunia prying in the next door neighbor's business. Then, she turned, catching a peek of the scene unfolding in her front yard, and Harry knew it was all over. He whipped around to tell Sirius to go and leave, but Uncle Vernon's booming voice was enough to stop him in his tracks.   
  
"Boy! What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to finish the gardening so you can fix lunch. It's already half past twelve and there's nothing on the table."  
  
Harry started to trudge back up to the house when Sirius' hand landed on his shoulder, holding him in place. The look in his eyes was definitely something that Harry worried about. There was a mad glint present that he had never seen from his good-natured godfather. Sirius stalked up to within five feet of Uncle Vernon. Sirius easily towered over the squat man.   
  
"Mr. Dursley, do you happen to know who I am?"Sirius growled low, giving light to his animalistic instincts.  
  
Uncle Vernon took a moment to register what was said. Then, a look of recognition flew across his face as he began to back away.  
  
"Y-y-you're t-t-that conv-victed murderer Sirius Black. Stay away from my family, you."  
  
"I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you say 'stay away from my family'?"  
  
Vernon nodded.  
  
"If I remember correctly, Harry here is a member of your family as well. And that entails certain proper treatment. Now you listen to me Vernon Dursley, and you listen well. If I ever hear that you have mistreated my godson, I will personally commit those crimes the Ministry's pinned on me. I-"  
  
At that moment, a number of bright lights flashed and sirens screeched as a mob of police vehicles came down Privet Drive. Sirius didn't even have to glance back. He knew what happened.   
  
'While I'm out here running my God forsaken mouth, that devil woman's called the bloody police on me. I should've seen that one coming. Great move, Black.'  
  
Sirius looked at Harry and saw the fear and anxiety contained in his emerald eyes. Harry had yelled for him to run, he could tell by the former's lips moving, but for some reason, he couldn't. It wasn't until the policemen started to arrive with guns and other Muggle weaponry that Sirius decided his portkey would be a nice touch. But he knew it would be too risky to vanish in front of so many Muggles. So he did something he'd've never thought he would do. Sirius grabbed Harry's arm and held him fast. His wand to Harry's neck and praying to whatever deities exist that the officers would mistake his wand for a knife, Sirius began to lead Harry off into the backyard.   
  
"Don't shoot or I'll kill him. I swear I will."Sirius shouted over the din of the sirens.   
  
An officer with a megaphone began to speak, trying to coerce Sirius to"release the hostage"and turn himself in.   
  
'Yes! They actually believed I had a knife. So glad Lily always made me watch those corny damsel in distress movies. Now to just get Harry back to the backyard where I can portkey out of here.'  
  
"Hold it right there, Mr. Black."  
  
Cornelius Fudge stepped out of the ranks and began to walk up to the pair. Sirius's wand was still drawn, yet it was away from Harry's neck, held at ready position in front of him. Harry made a mad dash for the open front door to retrieve his wand before he was stopped by two burly officers. No amount of thrashing about was enough to free Harry from the officers' tight grips. Harry soon discovered that there were some Ministry aurors mixed in the Muggle ranks, and these wizards began to lead their Muggle counterparts off the scene.  
  
Through the commotion, Harry was able to slip through the aurors, going again to his previous destination. He didn't know how much good it would do, maybe he could serve as a distraction for Sirius to escape. 'Wait a minute!' Harry ran upstairs to his room. After a moment of searching under his bed, Harry found the object he was looking for.  
  
"Thank you Fred and George!"  
  
In his hands was a red box with gold lettering. WWW' was centered on the top. Harry tore the lid off. Inside were"pilot pranks,"samples of the twins' newest pranks. The box was balanced in the crook of his arm as he rummaged through the messy container. Grabbing a little of this and that every so often, Harry shoved these new findings into his pocket as he gathered up the other necessities: his wand, his Firebolt, and the ever helpful Invisibility cloak.   
  
Harry ran back outside and found Sirius being backed into a corner with a whole line of Aurors with their wands trained on him. Harry used one of his old shoelaces to tie the cloak into a tight ball that he immediately threw to Sirius. The latter caught the bundle deftly and undid the tie, waiting for the right moment. Harry retrieved some of the small, round pellets from his pocket and tossed them in front of the Aurors. Where each of the pellets struck the ground, it broke in half and a cloud of smoke erupted. After the smoke cleared, a tall, looming Whomping Willow tree grew in its place. These trees, though they looked vicious like their predecessor, were meant as more of a scare that a threat. Their purpose seemed fulfilled. The Aurors took a step back, be it due to fear or surprise no one knew. Using the slight hesitation, Sirius threw the cloak over himself and disappeared from sight.   
  
A few moments later, Harry felt a slight breeze coming from directly beside him. Then, his Firebolt was suddenly suspended in mid-air. Behind the protection of the Whomping Willows, Sirius decided it was worth it to risk everything for what he was about to do.  
  
"Harry, come with me."  
  
Harry didn't say a word. His eyes were trained on the barrier, making sure no Auror slipped through. Then, he looked at Sirius and made a move to climb on. He stopped midway, however.  
  
"But Sirius, my other things..."  
  
"Don't worry about those, pup. We'll be back to get them later. But, I'd rather not leave you to deal with these idiots. So c'mon."  
  
Harry climbed on the broom and Sirius covered him with the cloak and they rode off into the setting sun.   
  
~*~*~*~*~ 


	2. Exploration

~*Chapter Two*~"Exploration"  
  
They had been riding for about half an hour before they trusted themselves to carry a conversation.  
  
"Sirius, why did you risk it? Once they catch you, that's it, it's all over. I can't lose you Sirius. You're the only family I've got left. You and Remus and Hermione and the Weasleys are all I have. Please just go off somewhere and hide. That way, we can work on getting your name cleared without you being in danger."  
  
Harry hated to sound like a selfish, spoiled brat, but that seemed to be the only way to get Sirius to listen. 'Maybe I was a little too harsh with that.'  
  
Sirius didn't say a word for a while. After another hour or so, they had reached a clearing. There was a small, picturesque cottage tucked in between a group of large trees. Sirius touched the broom down about 10 yards off the front porch. Removing the cloak, Harry stepped off and waited for Sirius' go-ahead. But, curiosity got the better of him and Harry gave up waiting and started walking up to the front door. It had to be someone that Sirius knew, he would never bring Harry to a complete stranger's house. Plus, only a handful of people knew the truth about Sirius' innocence of the crimes from that awful Halloween night in 1981.   
  
Suddenly, the door opened. A middle-aged man with sandy brown hair that was streaked with grays and amber-colored eyes appeared.  
  
"Remus?!"Harry asked, surprised.  
  
"Hello Harry. How are you doing?"  
  
"Ummm... Ok I guess. Sorry for being rude, I'm just a little surprised is all. When we left Privet Drive, I didn't know where we were going. I didn't think we'd come here."  
  
'Well, where did you think you'd go, Minister Fudge's? Of course Sirius would go to Remus' house!'  
  
"Well, it's good to see you again. Where is old Padfoot, by the way?"  
  
"He's umm... I don't really know where he is,"Harry looked around puzzled and then laughed nervously.  
  
"Well, let's go look for him, shall we?"  
  
They went back outside. Sirius was seated underneath the shade of a large willow tree. His eyes were closed for the moment and there was a somber look on his face. A light breeze ruffled his scraggly hair and caused the willow's branches to sway gently back and forth.  
  
"This is his favorite spot. He always used to come out here when he was really stressed. When his father died in 6th year, Sirius came over and sat under that tree for hours on end, completely lost to his thoughts. He did the same as soon as he escaped from Azkaban, though I didn't know because I was at Hogwarts. Probably to think about the past twelve years and Halloween. What happened today, Harry?"  
  
"Sirius came to visit me at Privet Drive for my birthday. Aunt Petunia called the police and Fudge came with them. Sirius was about to duel with Fudge when I went inside to grab my Firebolt and Invisibility cloak so he could escape. I started a distraction and he escaped and I came with him."  
  
"He didn't... did he?"Remus asked incredulously  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"I'll have to talk to him about that later. I'm going to try to get through to him, stay here for a moment."  
  
Remus walked over to where Sirius was seated, and kneeling, tapped him on the shoulder. No response. Then, he shook him gently. Again, no response. 'Of course! How could I forget? Sirius sleeps like the dead! Better not yell at him or it might scare Harry.'  
  
"Harry, will you go inside and get me a bucket of cold water?"  
  
Harry had a perplexed look on his face as he asked,"Why?"  
  
"Oh, you'll see. Just run inside and get it real quick."  
  
This time, Harry obeyed and entered the house. A minute or so later, he emerged, carrying a metal pail filled with water. It was so full that every couple of steps, some of the liquid escaped and landed in the grass. He gave the now half-full bucket to Remus, who glanced at its contents for a moment. Then, Remus walked back over to Sirius. A second later, a loud splash, followed by a surprised cry, gave way to a thoroughly damp Sirius Black. Sirius sat bolt upright with his eyes wide open.  
  
"Aww, now... Moony! Did you have to do that?"  
  
"Oh yes, of course, Sirius. You see, someone who is unaccustomed to your "peculiar" sleeping habits might think you were dead just now. So for Harry's benefit, I saw fit to wake you immediately."Remus said, offering Sirius a hand.  
  
Sirius took it and pulled himself off the ground. Remus, in turn, pulled Sirius into a brotherly hug. They separated after a moment, then went to join Harry, who was watching the scene from a few yards off. Together, they walked back to the house.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Once inside, Sirius went to"his"room, which was upstairs. Remus began dinner in the kitchen. After asking Remus if he needed help with the cooking and being denied, Harry decided to do some exploring. First, through the house. He walked through the dining room, which had a medium length table, that seated six, with a crystal chandelier hanging overhead. Along the walls were a number of large bookcases that reached to the ceiling. All of them were lined with books, volumes and volumes of reading material. There were very few cabinets, which most likely held special dining utensils. The hardwood floor was left uncovered, except for directly under the table. There was a giant Oriental rug with many rich and colorful designs upon it.  
  
The living room was fairly simple. It had a creamy carpet and some armchairs set up facing the television. 'Wow, I wouldn't have thought that Professor Lupin would have a television. Maybe he was Muggle born too, like Mum.' Harry decided to ask him about it later. There was a window on the far side of the room that looked out to the side yard. On the sill was a plant, an Easter white lily. Harry knew immediately what that symbolized. 'Professor Lupin and Mum must have been really good friends.'   
  
The next room Harry came upon was upstairs. It was neat and tidy, much like the rest of the house, so Harry figured it had to be Remus'. It was very small, with a singular end table on to the left side of the plain bed. On the table was a simple lamp, and over the head of the bed, where a headboard would have been, was a group of shelves. Of course, a great many books were housed, not a speck of dust to be found, and it seemed that Remus read all these tomes very frequently. On the other side of the bed was a single cherry wood armoire that contained all of his clothing.   
  
Off to the right side there was a door. Inside, Harry found a bathroom the size of a walk-in closet. It was barely big enough to hold the standing shower, sink, and toilet that were visible. Above the loo, Harry noticed an unusually bright patch of light on the wall. Upon closer inspection, Harry discovered that it was a hole in the wall, and he could hear a voice.  
  
"Hello."Harry said into the hole. It echoed for a moment. Harry was just about to leave, thinking the voice was just inside his head, when the voice called back,"Hello?"  
  
"Sirius? Is that you?"  
  
"Oy, Harry. You discovered me n Moony's secret. This pipe connects our bathrooms. So when we want to talk to each other, but are too lazy to walk around, we just come in here, knock on the wall, and hold the conversation in here."  
  
"Cool!"Harry said.  
  
"Yeah, but it would've been better to connect the showers, though I don't think Moony would like my singing."  
  
Harry laughed.  
  
"Sirius, can I come look at your room?"Harry asked hesitantly.  
  
"Sure pup. Come on over!"  
  
Harry got up and extinguished the lights in Remus' room. Harry took the next door on the right and stopped dead. The rest of the house was very clean and meticulous, and to say that Sirius' room was a mess was a complete understatement. There were clothes covering the entire floor; in some places, Harry sunk to his knees. There were pictures and papers and files scattered all over the desktop. The bed, of course, was unmade. The duvet was halfway hanging off the side of the bed, and Harry counted at least two pillows on the floor. It was obvious that Sirius had madly attacked them through the night during his restlessness.  
  
Remus called up the stairs saying that dinner would be ready in half an hour. Harry told Sirius that he would see him at dinner. Harry opened the door to the last unexplored room. The first thing he saw was a gigantic window on the parallel wall. Bookcases reached the ceiling and spread the length of the room on either side. There was a desk with a lamp on it and many file folders were set out over the top of it. Walking up to the desk, Harry saw some of the books that were lined up neatly on the shelves.   
  
Harry read the title of one outloud."Ancient and Modern Curses and Hexes."Most of the books in this room pertained to either Defense Against the Dark Arts or the war against Voldemort. Harry found a small section on Potions, one on Charms, and a couple of shelves that had photo albums on them. Harry removed one of them and sat down on an overstuffed chair to look through it. Inside, he found pictures of Remus' family. 'I didn't know he had a brother.' The first pages were of Remus as a child. Harry noticed that the pictures were still, like those from a Muggle camera.'He must have been Muggle born.' As Harry continued to flip through, he noticed that only the first few pages were of his family; the rest were of the Marauders and other people from Hogwarts. Harry saw that none of the pictures shown contained Peter Pettigrew.  
  
All of these photos were magical and Harry saw his parents as teenagers, laughing and waving at the camera. Another picture featured Sirius running around, screaming, with blue hair and wearing a pink, frilly dress. A knock on the door interrupted Harry's fit of laughter. Remus walked through the door and came to where Harry was seated, and took a seat himself.  
  
"I see you found the old photographs of the Marauders' younger years."  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
Remus looked at the picture of Sirius and also laughed."So many memories. So many good times. Sirius and I will tell you the story behind the photos after dinner, if you'd like."  
  
"I'd like that very much."Harry said.  
  
"Well, dinner's ready. Let's go eat, though if we wait too much longer, I'm afraid it will be all gone. Padfoot has a bottomless pit in place of a stomach."  
  
Remus got up, walked over to the door, and stood there, waiting for a moment. Harry followed suit, catching the lights on his way out. They walked down the creaky, narrow staircase together.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
When they arrived in the kitchen, Sirius was already seated at the table. For once, he was waiting patiently for everyone else, despite the fact that the food was already set out on the table. Remus and Harry sat down and they all began to serve themselves. A majority of the meal was spent in silence; each person lost in their own thoughts. At some point, the silence became extremely awkward and Remus tried to start a conversation. This attempt failed, and he excused himself shortly thereafter.  
  
Sirius gathered up his and Remus' dishes and vacated the table. In the kitchen, he found Remus sitting at the small table with his head in his hands.   
  
"Moony, you alright?"  
  
Remus gave a little start and slowly looked up to face Sirius.   
  
"You know that it's the full moon tomorrow, right?"   
Sirius nodded.  
  
"Well, how are we going to do this with Harry here? He's not used to my transformations and he's not an animagus, so he can't come with us."  
  
"Erm.. Harry could stay in the house and I'll go with you,"Sirius suggested hopefully.  
  
"I don't think so, Padfoot. Too many things could happen and I don't feel comfortable leaving him to manage on his own. Maybe you two could go ahead and contact Dumbledore, you know, to work on your case..."  
  
"You're right, Moony. I'll give Dumbledore's office a try and see if he's there."  
  
"You're welcome to use my fireplace, if you'd like," Remus said formally.  
  
"Thanks."   
Sirius left the kitchen and went to the living room. Grabbing some Fire Powder, Sirius lit the grate and threw the powder in, calling"Albus Dumbledore!" The fire glowed an eeiry red color. After five minutes of waiting and calling his former headmaster's name, Sirius gave up. Then he got an idea.   
  
"Minerva McGonagall!"   
The fire grew red again and the head of his previous Transfiguration teacher and Head of House appeared. Her facial expression was shocked.  
  
"Mr. Black! Have you any idea how worried I was when Minister Fudge came storming up to the castle, raving about you slipping through his fingers and that Harry was gone from Privet Drive. You realize you could have jeopardized the entire operation. The sooner we can get your name cleared, the sooner you can offically rejoin us. Your assistance and experience as a former Auror is invaluable to our cause, Sirius. But if you keep popping up and people see you, Fudge will increase the security to find you. You cannot be seen again, do you understand me?"  
  
"Yes, professor," Sirius mocked her, rolling his eyes. Then he asked earnestly,"Minerva, do you know where Albus is?"  
  
"He's on vacation."  
  
"What?! Where?"  
  
"The Beaches of Bermuda."  
  
"Where is that?"  
  
"How am I supposed to know, Mr. Black, I teach transfiguration not Muggle Geography. I believe it's somewhere off the coast of North Carolina in the United States. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."  
  
"It's not a magical island, is it?"  
  
"Of sorts. Merlin is said to have visited there once after helping King Arthur. There's an apparition point on the north side of the island and Albus should be on that beach. Remember, you must not be seen, Sirius!"  
  
"Alright Minerva. Oh, I have Harry with me, and before you get mad, I was not going to leave him to deal with Fudge and the Aurors by himself. Don't worry about him so much. I'll protect him with my life if need be. Anyways, that's the whole reason for our visit, I want to see what I can do to speed up this clearing-my-name process. Thanks for the help, Professor."  
  
"Be careful, Sirius."  
  
Sirius nodded and extinguished the fire. 'Bermuda, eh? Not a bad choice, Dumbledore. Betcha there are some sexy women there.' He walked through the kitchen and only then noticed that it was nearing eleven o'clock. 'Harry's probably already asleep. I guess we'll leave after breakfast. He went up the stairs and retired to his bedroom.   
  
~*~*~*~*~ 


End file.
